Mending The Broken

Sitting on a nearby bench, Elizabeth popped another bubble from the gum she was currently munching on as she watched the downtown subway train through the mahogany streaks in her bangs empty out before more people continued to get on again. With her black and blue earbuds nestled inside of her almost elven ears, it was rather difficult to hear the warning of the impatient subway car's closing doors. Suddenly, Elizabeth felt a nudging tap on her shoulder blade, like an annoying little ankle-biter trying to receive her partial attention. Taking only one earphone out, she made it quite obvious that she was only half-listening to whomever was pleading for her immediate attention. "Aye, ah, you might have missed your ride, signorina." The tall stranger said from behind her as he poked Elizabeth’s bare arm with his knuckles. She turned her head to the more masculine voice beside her, keeping her bright, stormy sea-blue eyes glued to the passing train, her line of sight directly straight ahead of her. "Thanks for the head's up, man, but I'm not here for the subway." She turned her face forward once more. "Ah, right. Right. My apologies, miss." He replied almost solemnly before he watched her nod. The man then leaned back and proceeded to scroll through his phone. Suddenly, Elizabeth had a seemingly brilliant idea. But she needed to be casual when she asked, otherwise, due to the awkwardness, he most likely might not agree. She bit the corner of her bottom lip and shrugged inwardly before looking at the man beside her for a moment. "'Ave you ever been to the capital’s hospital, by chance?" Elizabeth asked suddenly, breaking the silence between them with her slight southern accent. She leaned to the side towards him a bit in order to hear his answer better over the noise of the subway cars and their hurried rush to nowhere, unknowingly giving the man a front-row seat to an embarrassing view down her shirt. The handsome young man chuckled, trying his best not to look at her developing breasts and back to his phone again. She honestly seemed very well put together, so he doubted that she was doing this to earn extra money. She showed no signs of drug use, so that could be checked off the list-although he could tell she was slightly sleep-deprived, but then again, all teenagers were. "No, haven't ever had a reason to." She raised a dark brown eyebrow mischievously, like a naughty child with an evil plan to get into some chocolate chip cookies before dinner, almost as if she were tempting him. "Would you like one now?" She flashed him an almost-convincing smile. He furrowed his brow in a confused look. “I already apologized, and now you’re threatening me?” Elizabeth's eyes immediately widened in embarrassment, and she stood up straight once again, raising her hands up in a defensive position. “No! No, that’s not what I mean! I meant to ask if you’ve ever seen where they keep the records.” I wasn't…” she trailed off, blushing quite profoundly. “Ah,” He chuckled again, almost nervously. There was no way on earth she could be meaning to refer to...anything else, but he decided to play along regardless. "Guess I wouldn't mind. Don't have much to do right now." He responded, seeming to test the waters. So far, so good. She smiled, but "Good." was all she said. The man sat up as if he were about to inquire what she was planning, but as she opened her mouth to reply, he stopped her once more. “Hold on a minute-how old are you?” He asked. She gave him an obviously confused look. “I’m sixteen.” She answered, sitting back upright once more. “Are you sure you should be doing whatever you're doing?” He asked her.  “I...kinda have to…” Elizabeth replied shyly, her gaze falling to the ground beneath them. “Will you tell me why?” He asked her with obvious concern in his voice. Elizabeth bit the inside of her cheek. “Maybe later.” She said finally. “I'll take that.” She started off by introducing herself. "My name is Elizabeth Edwards and I need some assistance getting into the capital's Hospital-” “Wait a minute-what do you need?” His eyes widened instantly. Elizabeth gave a short sigh, trying hard not to show her impatience. “I need some assistance getting into the capital's Hospital records. Would you like to help me?" She waited anxiously for his reply while he hid his smiling lips behind his calloused hand and desperately tried not to let her hear his laughter. “What is it?” Elizabeth pried. “Why are you acting so strange?” The man seemingly shrugged her question off with a controlled “Nothing.” Then he thought about her request for a moment. "Haha, sure, why not? I'm up for a little trouble. Name's Angelo. " He said as he offered his hand to her. She shook it with a strong grip and gave him one of her million-dollar-grins. "This is going to be awesome.” She said as she handed him a small slip of paper with a phone number written in neat handwriting. Angelo placed it in the front pocket of his pants. She was anxious to get started. She was ready for anything. "Indeed it is. What's the plan?" He asked with a grin. Except for that. Her face instantly dropped to the floor. "That's...Kinda the problem." She looked down in an attempt to hide the guilt written all over her face. Sadly, Angelo still saw it. "I don't exactly...Have a plan yet." Elizabeth admitted shyly. Angelo sighed, placing two fingers on the bridge of his nose. "Lovely. You ask me to help you with your master plan...only to then reveal that your master plan doesn't even exist..." “Yet.” She piped up in a weak attempt to redeem herself. He shook his head. “Honestly...How ridiculous...” That wasn't fair. She glared at him. “Look, you seem like a nice guy, so I'm going to let you in on a little secret that nobody knows. My best friend is dying, and it turns out that she was adopted.. She wants to meet her birth parents, but the only available way to know who they are is to get the records from the hospital she was born in.”